Director of ADRA, Pastor Desmond Robinson (second right) receives $8,000 from Naudia Wright-Thomas (right) of Robinson, Davis and Co. The money went towards the payment of school fee and the purchase of uniforms for 15-year-old Novada Wynter (second from left), one of the beneficiaries of the Society for the Collaborative Lifting and Advancing of Inner-city Males programme. Others from left are Pastor Jeff Jefferson, mentor assigned to the Jonathan Grant High School, and Dorill McLaughlin (Novada's Mother). - Contributed

MANDEVILLE, Manchester:

"This is my 35th birthday gift. I thank your organisation so much for this wonderful programme. It has brought joy to my heart knowing that someone cares."

Those were the words of Dorill McLaughlin (who celebrated her birthday yesterday), the mother of 15-year-old Novada Wynter, after they had received school uniforms purchased for him through the Society for the Collaborative Lifting and Advancing of Inner-city Males (S-CLAIM) programme on Monday.

Earlier, $8,000 was donated by Naudia Wright-Thomas, a representative of Robinson, Davis and Company, an auditing firm in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, to Pastor Desmond Robinson, director of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency-Jamaica (ADRA). The donation went towards the payment of school fee and the purchase of uniforms for Novada, who attends the Jonathan Grant High School in the volatile community of Spanish Town.

Aim to uplift inner-city youth

The programme, an initiative of ADRA-Jamaica, was launch on August 23, with 42 boys and will be funded primarily by donations and gifts from the private sector and non-governmental organisations.

The main purpose of the project is to present to inner-city young men, who are vulnerable to crime and violence, an alternative to the gun, drugs, and a life of crime. It is also designed to mould their characters, build on their moral development, instil positive values, encourage them to respect themselves and others and expose them to a 'world' other than the one they know. It is designed to foster the social and educational development of young men who live and attend school within inner-city communities and who may be influenced by the culture.